As Christie mingles in Fla., Democrats vow to review Sandy claims

NORTH PALM BEACH, FLA. — Gov. Chris Christie spent the weekend meeting big-money Republican donors in Florida despite growing trouble in New Jersey where Democrats plan to morph the Bridgegate investigation into also looking at claims that politics drove the distribution of superstorm Sandy relief funds.

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer says the Christie administration withheld storm recovery aid because the city wouldn’t give approval to a major redevelopment project pitched by David Samson’s law firm. Christie appointed and named Samson board chairman at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the George Washington Bridge.

Samson received one of the 20 subpoenas issued last week by an Assembly panel investigating the politically motivated lane closures at the bridge in September. Samson has hired lawyer Michael Chertoff, the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security under President George W. Bush.

None of the evidence uncovered directly links Christie to the closures, and he says he had no knowledge of the plot that tied up traffic in Fort Lee for four days. He has fired two aides, including his deputy chief of staff, for their involvement, and in his State of the State address declared his willingness to cooperate in “appropriate’’ investigations.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski, who is leading the Bridgegate investigation, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday that he plans to have his committee also review Zimmer’s complaints and “look at the facts, hear her story, look at the emails and consider where we go next.”

“Clearly the allegation that she was asked to support a redevelopment project where there was funding from the Port Authority, which we’re investigating, in turn for her getting money for her municipality, raises serious allegations,” Wisniewski said. “We don’t know where it goes. We don’t know if there’s more to it. I think it’s something the committee has to consider as part of the overall investigation.”

Zimmer released the following prepared statement Sunday: “This afternoon I met with the U.S. Attorney’s office for several hours at their request and provided them with my journal and other documents. As they pursue this investigation, I will provide any requested information and testify under oath about the facts of what happened.”

Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, declined to address the statement because “our office doesn’t make a habit of discussing whom we do or don’t meet with.”

Zimmer says Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Richard Constable III told her she would have to go along with a private development project the governor wanted in order for her city to receive superstorm Sandy relief money.

Guadagno is expected to address the allegations at an unrelated event in Union Beach this morning. Check back at APP.com for updates on the event.

Christie’s office has denied Zimmer’s new claims. Spokesman Colin Reed pointed out that Zimmer publicly praised Christie months after the alleged conversations in which she claims disaster aid was tied to the development project. Reed said Zimmer’s description of a May conversation with the lieutenant governor “is categorically false.”

“Separate from Hazard Mitigation funding, Hoboken has already received nearly $70 million worth of funding for direct recovery and rebuilding efforts,” Reed said. “Hoboken has in no way trailed similarly situated communities in the receipt of rebuilding funds.”

“They’re playing games with the numbers and it’s a deflection,” Zimmer said.

Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for Constable, also called Zimmer’s charge false.

Zimmer, a Democrat, stuck by her story Sunday. She said her conversation with Constable occurred May 16 at Monmouth University prior to their appearance as panelists on a TV event produced by NJTV.

NJTV doesn’t have any pre-broadcast audio records from that event, said Debra Falk, a spokeswoman.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, who also was a panelist, said he didn’t hear a conversation between Zimmer and Constable.

“I sat next to Mayor Zimmer and, if I recall correctly, (Constable) was on my other side,” Doherty said.

Doherty, also a Democrat, said Belmar hasn’t faced delays in receiving recovery money.

“The administration has always been cooperative and professional and encouraged us to contact them right away if there’s anything we need,” Doherty said.

Zimmer brought her story to light on MSNBC on Saturday and in an interview on CNN said the alleged quid pro quo offer from the high-ranking administration was “a direct message from the governor.”

Christie, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association, spent part of Sunday at a RGA fundraiser in North Palm Beach, Fla., hosted by Wall Street titan Kenneth Langone, the co-founder of Home Depot. Christie joined Florida Gov. Rick Scott at a series of other stops to raise money for Scott’s re-election campaign and test the waters for a Christie presidential run in 2016.

Christie’s home state troubles haven’t hurt his presidential chances in a key early-primary state, according to a survey by Public Policy Polling, which found Christie to be in a stronger position now with New Hampshire’s Republican voters than in September, when the last poll was conducted. The Democratic-leaning polling organization said it found that Hillary Clinton is “by far the strongest 2016 candidate in the state.”

Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani also appeared on “Meet the Press” and countered Wisniewski based on previous statements by the Middlesex County Democrat that he found it hard to believe Christie didn’t know about his office’s involvement in the lane closures.

“When you announce before you even investigate it you don’t believe the subject of the investigation, or the person who’s the ultimate focus of the investigation, it would seem to me the assemblyman has an ethical obligation to step down, to recuse himself. He’s no longer an impartial arbiter of the facts,” Giuliani said. “The person conducting the investigation has now announced the conclusion of the investigation, that he believes the governor is not telling the truth. He should not be handling the investigation. It gives it no sense of credibility and it clearly is a partisan witch hunt.”

Other Republicans piled on and also called for Wisniewski to step down, with Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, R-Ocean, saying, “By his words and actions, Wisniewski has resisted every effort to ensure this process will be credible and transparent.”

A spokesman for Wisniewski, Tom Hester Jr., called them “uniformed critics.”

Hester said Giuliani “quite simply has no idea what he’s talking about,” and that Wisniewski until now “has been praised by Republicans for his work and Republicans unanimously voted with Democrats to continue the investigation into what happened with this threat to public safety and abuse of government power.”

The investigation led by Wisniewski so far “has already led to two resignations from the Port Authority and the removal of two top members of Governor Christie’s organization,” Hester added.

Republicans have more than Wisniewski to worry about. Another probe, by the Senate Select Committee on Investigation, will get underway Wednesday. Its chairwoman, Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said its first subpoenas will seek documents from Samson, Port Authority Commissioner William “Pat” Schuber and Regina Egea, the Christie administration’s director of the Authorities Unit.

“To me, an important part of this story is the craziness of what happened and who authorized the traffic jam and why,” Weinberg said. “Then the second half of the story for me is also: What did everybody who had responsibility, accountability do about it? That’s one of those things that people who are in public service should get the answer to so that it can be a lesson for the future of what not to do.”